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As the year wraps up, I wanted to keep you up-to-date on some important information regarding some procedural things as well as the calendar.

First, I wanted to say “Thank you” to everyone who came out to support the parade on Monday. While the weather didn’t cooperate as best as it could, our students pulled through. Hopefully you were proud of their hard work and effort.

Every student who marched took home a jacket. I am asking that they wash and return it by Friday. Students who do not return it will be billed $40 to replace it. Thank you for helping them keep track of this!!!

Friday – June 9th
6:00 p.m – All students must be at Watson Arena at Bowdoin for Graduation. We start playing at this time
7:00 p.m – Graduation!

Not that I expect this question but, obviously, we will be rehearsing in class until the end of the year (really, what else would we do?!? 🙂 )

Music Awards Night
– While music awards night is meant to celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors, there are MANY awards given out to underclassmen. It is by no means a mandatory event but, if you are free, we would love to have you there.
– If your child attended an honors festival, there will be certificates presented
– We honor outstanding musicianship in each of the grades
– We also honor most improved in each grade.

To parents of seniors:
– Ms. Wight in the guidance office has received a list of all the senior boys. Each male student MUST return their dress attire (vest, pants, and shoes) in order to receive their diploma.
– Ladies may donate their band dress if they are interested. We always have students who are unable to afford a dress who benefit from donations.
– Orange polo shirts should be washed and returned. If they have a burning desire to keep them, please let me know.

I believe that is all that I have for this update. Short, sweet, and to the point. I hope you all are having a wonderful week. I look forward to seeing you at jazz night and music awards next week!!!

First, to all the mothers out there, I hope you all had a special and wonderful day yesterday. You each deserve it very much and are doing such a wonderful job developing such outstanding young people. Thank you for all you do on a daily basis.

This is a pretty straight ahead week for us. I wanted to outline a few of the important calendar items:

Thursday – May 25th
8:00 p.m – Thursday Jazz at One Longfellow Square!
– Concert Attire
– There is NO transportation to or from the concert
– Rhythm section does NOT need to bring anything except Vibes, sticks, mallets, bass, and guitar
I believe that is all that I have for this week.

A few notes of THANK YOU!

First, thank you to all of you who came out to the All Town Band concert on Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed the performances by all of our students. I am so proud of all the bands, grades 5 – 12. We are so fortunate to have so many talented students in our district.

Second, I’d like to thank everyone who was at the Jazz Residency Concert on Friday. Mr. Pietro was very complimentary of our students and had nothing but nice things to say about all of the students in the jazz program. I received an email from Mr. Burke, head of the Jazz Residency Initiative, that said it was a personal record for the JRI with regards to the size of the audience.

Finally, Thank you to Diana Marc-Aurele for all of her hard work with the residency! There were so many “behind the scenes” tasks that needed completing and Mrs. Marc-Aurele was critical in making it a successful event for our students. Thank you so much for all you have done to help our students with such a fabulous night.

I hope this email finds you well. We have a few important details to go over for the coming two weeks. First, some calendar information:

Tuesday – 4/4/17

4:45 – Tuesday Prime

6:00 – Tuesday Jazz

Wednesday – 4/5/17

6:30 p.m – Music Boosters Meeting!!! THIS IS THE FINAL meeting before the trip and the second to last before the jazz residency in May. Please make every effort to be there.

Thursday – 4/6/17

5:30 – Thursday Jazz Sectionals (All sections)

6:00 – Thursday Jazz rehearsal

Tuesday – 4/11/17

7:00 a.m – Morning band

4:45 p.m – Tuesday Prime

6:00 p.m – Tuesday Jazz

Wednesday – 4/12/17

5:30 p.m – Thursday night jazz ensemble

** This is a reschedule rehearsal for the annual Spring Fling. This is an open rehearsal for all the 8th graders to come and check out part of our program.

Thursday – 4/13/17

7:00 a.m – Morning band

6:00 p.m – MANDATORY TRIP MEETING! (see below)

Mattress Sale Results

We had a fairly good outing for the Mattress Sale! The following are Students who earned credit for their trip account.

Chapman hall$125

Ben dousbach$255

Sophie blair$160

Erin coughlin$280

Tim st pierre$130

Anna webster$150

Isaac burtis$135

Victoria stevens$75

Cayden mckinley$100

Katie bojarski$160

Emily cowan$200

Joshua guptil$75

Alexis guptil$75

Kristen hummer$75

Julianna gammage$75

Mitko ivanov$100

Eli carney$175

Sophie calderwood$275

Julia baumgarte$110

Alexandra morse$125

Erin mare-aurele$100

Isabella polls$75

Mitchell lienert$75

Thursday – April 13th

6:00 p.m– MANDATORY TRIP MEETING! If your son or daughter will be traveling with us to Williamsburg in two weeks, you must be at this meeting. There will be forms to fill out and other important paperwork to go through.

– At this meeting we will go over all procedures, rules, and expectations

– There will be a chaperone meeting following the large group meeting.

Trip update

Today, your son or daughter will be getting a slip with the remainder of their trip balance on it. There have been several payments made over the past 3 days (Friday, Monday, and today). Most of these have been reflected, HOWEVER, there might be some in transit from the Junior High. This WILL include the money from the mattress sale this year.

A reminder – the total trip cost is $575, NOT $550. The math was incorrect on the letter home but the $575 total on the initial paragraph about cost IS correct.

Hot Country Nights

Mark your calendars and plan to attend Hot Country Nights on Friday or Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Crooker Theater! Come hear your talented peers perform amazing songs and humorous jokes! Tickets are $10, and $5 for students and seniors. Proceeds benefit Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, the BHS Music Program and the Class of 2017! Also, HUGE props to Henry Raker who did the arranging for the horn section of Hot Country Nights!!! We are SUPER proud of you.

I believe that is all I have for this week.

Thank you all for your constant support of the music program! We really appreciate all that you have done for the students throughout the year so far. It is so hard to believe we are coming close to the end of the year.

I wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who came out to support the Mattress Sale on Saturday! A special thank you to the students who volunteered to hold signs throughout the day. We have yet to hear the results but I am hopeful that we made our goal!

Wednesday – 3/29
MBDA CONCERT BAND FESTIVAL!!!Attached is a copy of the letter that was sent home last week.
The festival is held at Scarborough High School
There is an admission fee – I think $7 for adults but I could be wrong (we haven’t seen that information yet)
7:00 a.m – Morning Band
1:00 p.m – Bus Departs BHS For Scarborough High School
– All band students will need to be IN CONCERT ATTIRE. They will be able to change from 12:45 – 1 p.m
2:00 p.m – Bus Arrives at Scarborough HS
2:30 p.m – Concert Band Warm Up
3:00 p.m – Concert Band Performance
3:30 p.m – Sight Reading and Clinic
4:00 p.m – 2 busses depart with concert band students for BHS
– All Wind Ensemble (morning band) students remain at Scarborough
5:00 p.m – Wind Ensemble Warms Up
5:30 p.m – Wind Ensemble performs
6:00 p.m – Wind Ensemble Sight reading and clinic
6:45 p.m – Busses depart Scarborough for BHS
7:45 p.m – Busses arrive at BHS
All of this information will be in a letter given to your students this week along with a permission slip.

Thursday – 3/30
DINE OUT FUNDRAISER AT 99!
This is a super easy fundraiser that, hey…will save some of us from cooking!!
From 2 – 10, present a flyer at the 99 restaurant and a portion of your check will go toward BHS Music.
Please print out the attached flyer and present it at 99 in order to get the music department 15% of your total bill!
Fun fact: From 3 – 6 they have a happy hour with many specials including $5 appetizers.

SCHOLARSHIP!
The deadline is FAST approaching for District 3 Student scholarships. Please follow this link: https://sites.google.com/site/mmeadistrict3/Home/student-scholarships

There are 2 scholarships available:
For underclassmen: MMEA District III will award six $250.00 music scholarships to students enrolled in District III school music programs. Scholarships are to be used by students to assist them in pursuing their musical activities and goals (music camp, private lessons, purchase of new instruments, college, etc.). The deadline for applying for this scholarship is March 31 each year.

For upperclassmen:
District III offers the Dick Kenison Music Scholarship in the amount of $1000 for a graduating high school senior. The applicant must be:
– A graduating senior who has been an active ensemble member, in good standing with their respective music programs during their high school tenure
– A person who has shown and/or demonstrated an active interest in school and community in the capacity of teaching/tutoring music
– A person who plans on majoring in music in college

We have MANY students who meet the criteria for either scholarship. I will be more than happy to write the letters of recommendation needed for either one.

Volunteers Needed
We are looking for a few volunteers to run a 50/50 raffle at the Dine Out Fundraiser at 99. If anyone is available, please let me know ASAP. I will be talking to a couple students but it would rad to have a few students in shifts.

I believe that is all that I have for this week! Thank you for all that you do to support BHS Music. I hope to see most of you at our concert on Wednesday at Scarborough!!

Have a great week. GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ARE TRYING OUT FOR SPRING SPORTS!

First, I wanted to send out a CONGRATULATIONS to all the Jazz Students
from BJHS and BHS!

In case you missed it, this weekend, the students from Brunswick Jazz
Programs traveled to Durham, NH to participate in the Clark Terry UNH Jazz
Festival.

This non-competitive festival exists to promote jazz programs across New
England and sees pfrtiipcation from schools as far away as Rhode Island
and Connecticut. All four ensembles performed very well! The Jazz Combo, a
self-directed sextet that writes their own arrangements, came away with an
honorable mention in the Combo Room! The Thursday Night Jazz Ensemble
earned an Outstanding Ensemble award in the ³A² band room. This is the top
award you can receive at the UNH Jazz Festival. I am so proud of the 55
high school jazz musicians and the 24 Junior high musicians who
represented our community with exceptional musicianship and pride.

Now, for some quick calendar items. This is essentially the same info I
gave you last week but I wanted to be sure you all were reminded. PLEASE
REMIND YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER OF MORNING BAND TOMORROW!!!!!!

First, regarding the weather – As of right now, Band-O-Rama is a go. It
will continue to be a go until the school says otherwise.

IF, for whatever reason, they say we can¹t do Band-O-Rama on Tuesday, I
will be in touch regarding plans. We are currently working on a “what if”
since a snow date was never picked.

Monday ­ 3/13
7:00 a.m ­ Morning Band

Tuesday ­ 3/14 ­ BAND ­ O ­RAMA!!!!!!
7:00 a.m ­ Morning Band

Band-O-Rama Schedule
Attached is a PDF of all the important info for Band-O-Rama. Just to clear
up some confusion, this is an event for EVERY kid in band.

3:15 Brunswick rehearses on stage
4:45 Combined bands line up in gym to line up for combined rehearsal while
stage is set up for combined rehearsal
5:00 Combined rehearsal on stage
5:30 Dinner in the Cafeteria
6:00 Change into concert dress
6:30 Warm up
7:00 Concert
– Concert order: Mt. Ararat, Morse,
Brunswick, Combined Bands

– Wednesday, March 29th (or 30th) – MBDA concert band festival @ Scarborough High School (we won’t know which day until we get a schedule)

2) The “NEMFA” festival in Norwalk, CT is only for a few students, not the whole group.

3) Because of the weather, the Unified game was rescheduled to the 2nd of March (THIS Thursday) – I am going to see if we can get enough students there. I think it is an immensely valuable opportunity for our students.

Some stuff for this week:

Monday – February 27th

2:30 – Tuesday Prime Jazz

4:00 – Tuesday Night Jazz

6:00 – Thursday Night Jazz

Tuesday – February 28th

7:00 a.m – Morning band

DISTRICT 3 JAZZ FESTIVAL – This is for ALL jazz students

Location: BHS

Attire: Jazz Performance attire

*** There is a $5 admission fee for the festival as this is a district event ***

– There will be an opportunity for students to make a lot of money to offset the cost of the trip.

– PLEASE make every effort to attend!

Thursday – March 2nd

7:00 a.m – Morning Band

2:30 p.m – Unified Basketball – The game starts at 3 but we are playing for the team at 2:30. Normally we don’t do make-up games but I am willing to make an exception.

Saturday – March 4th

The GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL GAME!

First, congratulations to the girls basketball team on their tremendous upset of Greely High School. I am so proud of all the students who are in the band program that also play ball!!!!

The band will be performing at the state game on Saturday! I am aware that there is a YMCA swim meet that day. Best of luck to our students involved in this! We will be cheering for you.

Thank you for your willingness to participate in this outstanding event for our community.

10:30 – Bus Departs BHS for the Augusta Civic Center

1:00 – Game time!

3:00 – anticipated Departure from ACC

4:00 – Anticipated arrival at BHS

– Students will need their pep band tee shirt, flip folders, and instrument.

Jazz Items

Attached, please find the schedule of events for the Clark Terry UNH Jazz festival on Saturday, March 11th. This is a wonderful day for all of our jazz students. PLEASE NOTE! There is a schedule and permission slip attached. I need the permission slip returned to me ASAP. The students will be getting a hard copy tomorrow in rehearsal.

Volunteers

In case you didn’t get the prior email, we are in need of many volunteers for the District 3 Jazz Festival this coming Tuesday. Claudia Brzoza has been kind enough to make this sign up genius http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4faaab2da3ff2-district1 If you are available, please sign up for anything you are able to.

I believe that is all that I have for you this week. Thank you so much for all you do to help support the music department at BHS! I am excited to showcase our band in front of thousands of people at the Augusta Civic Center this Saturday! It is going to be an exceptional rad time!

I have a bunch of upcoming calendar events and other information for you so, without delay, here we go!

Calendar:

Today – 6:00 – Pep Band – As of RIGHT NOW, we are ON for pep band tonight. If that changes, I will let you know.

– Tonight we welcome approximately 20 of the eighth grade students from BJHS to our pep band event. I told our students that this a critically important event as it is the first opportunity the eighth grade students have to be a part of our wonderful climate at BHS! Please encourage your son or daughter to be friendly, welcoming, and encouraging.

– The game BEGINS at 6:30, NOT 7:00 as in the past. Please plan accordingly.

*** REMINDER – Pep band shirts are REQUIRED!!!! Full credit will not be given to students without them ***

Thursday- All Jazz Events are taking place on this day! Students have been told about this last week. Just a quick reminder:

2:30 – 4:00 – Tuesday Prime

4:00 – 6:00 – Tuesday Jazz

6:00 – 8:00 – Thursday Jazz

NEXT WEEK!

Tuesday – 7:00 a.m – Wind Ensemble

4:45 – Tuesday Prime

6:00 – Tuesday Jazz

Thursday – 7:00 a.m – Wind Ensemble

– 2:30 p.m – UNIFIED BASKETBALL GAME

– 5:30 p.m – Rhythm Section Sectional

– 6:00 p.m – Thursday Jazz

A quick note about Thursday, February 16th

Mr. Chris Baribeau, coach of the Unified Basketball team here at BHS, has asked that the band perform at a unified basketball game again this year. Last year, our students were OUTSTANDING and provided such a great atmosphere for the student athletes and their parents.

The game is directly after school. This is by no means a “mandatory” experience, but I would like as many students as possible to attend. I will be polling the kids during band to make sure we have a number of instrumentalists there. Could you please help make this event a priority for your son or daughter? I know it may not seem like much, but the Unified students absolutely love having us there.

If you are unfamiliar with Unified basketball is, Unified Sports (a arm of the Special Olympics) is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

Unified Sports teams are made up of an approximately equal number of athletes (people with intellectual disabilities) and Unified Partners (people without intellectual disabilities). Our Unified teams dramatically increase inclusion in the community, using sports to help break down barriers that have historically kept people apart. Teams are made up of people of similar age and ability, which makes practices more fun and games more challenging and exciting for all.

First, I wanted to say a huge congratulations to the students who were involved int he District 3 High School Honors Festival last weekend! I am so proud of their hard work and dedication. The end result was a fabulous concert and a very meaningful experience for Mr. Priest AND our students. I hope they enjoyed the weekend as much as I enjoyed listening to them grow and perform.

Calendar Events

Tonight – Tuesday

4:45 – Tuesday Prime

6:00 – Tuesday Jazz

Tomorrow – Wednesday

7:00 a.m – Tuesday Jazz Trumpet sectional

6:00 p.m – Music Boosters Meeting

– Please note, this meeting is earlier to accommodate the trip meeting at 7.

– We will be discussing upcoming fundraising opportunities.

7:00 p.m – Williamsburg Trip meeting

– My goal for this meeting is to provide a brief overview about the trip and also to discuss our plan for what we are going to do to provide fundraising opportunities. Most of these will be discussed at the 6 p.m meeting

– We will cover the cost breakdown and tentative itinerary

– PLEASE make every effort to attend

Thursday

6:00 p.m – PEP BAND!! The game BEGINS at 6:30 which means we need to be in the gym no later than 6:10. PLEASE plan accordingly.

Thursday, February 16th

Mr. Chris Baribeau, coach of the Unified Basketball team here at BHS, has asked that the band perform at a unified basketball game again this year. Last year, our students were OUTSTANDING and provided such a great atmosphere for the student athletes and their parents.

The game is directly after school. This is by no means a “mandatory” experience, but I would like as many students as possible to attend. I will be polling the kids during band to make sure we have a number of instrumentalists there. Could you please help make this event a priority for your son or daughter? I know it may not seem like much, but the Unified students absolutely love having us there.

If you are unfamiliar with Unified basketball is, Unified Sports (a arm of the Special Olympics) is dedicated to promoting social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

Unified Sports teams are made up of an approximately equal number of athletes (people with intellectual disabilities) and Unified Partners (people without intellectual disabilities). Our Unified teams dramatically increase inclusion in the community, using sports to help break down barriers that have historically kept people apart. Teams are made up of people of similar age and ability, which makes practices more fun and games more challenging and exciting for all.

A huge Congratulations go out to Sarah Poutree and Ania Johnston! Sarah placed first in Oratorical Declamation, and is the new state champion. Ania placed second in Duo Interpretation. There were 325 students involved in the competition! We are so proud of both of these amazing young women for representing themselves and BHS so well in the annual Speech and Debate State Meet! Best of luck as they compete to head to Nationals this coming weekend.

Trip info

Most of this will be discussed tomorrow. Currently, we only have 60 responses for the band trip. Of the 60, there are only 50 positive responses. My assumption is that most parents are waiting for tomorrow nights meeting to hand in information. Following tomorrow night’s meeting, Mrs. Albert and I will make a determination as to whether or not it is a viable opportunity for either organization. There are not enough kids signed up in either discipline to field a representative organization that would best exemplify what we do here at BHS.

If you are looking for the recordings made by the Thursday night jazz ensemble, you can find them at this link: http://brunswickmusic.org/band/jazz-ensemble/jazz-recordings/ Once again, many thanks to Mr. Jud Caswell, local audio engineer and band parent, for donating his time to this exciting opportunity. The students and I are forever grateful.

I believe that is all that I have for this week! Hope to see you tomorrow night at the meeting (and then again on Thursday at the game)